As reported on June 27, 2024 by Railway Age, the 18th of 32 Siemens Venture trainsets was delivered to VIA Rail’s Montreal Maintenance Center in a new, never-before-seen livery, which now has a name: Meet Lumi.
Lumi is a one-of-a-kind livery for this particular Siemens Venture trainset being delivered to VIA. Meaning “luminosity,” Lumi was designed to stand out, according to VIA Rail, which said it “wanted to make a strong gesture by differentiating one of its trains with a special exterior design.” Unique liveries like this (which are not the same as heritage schemes paying tribute to predecessor railroads) are applied by many passenger train operators around the world. Japan, for example, has many special one-of-a-kind liveries such as the Hello Kitty Shinkansen. New Jersey Transit recently introduced an ALP-45DP locomotive in an Atlas Model Railroad Co. scheme. Amtrak in 2022 paid tribute to Operation Lifesaver’s 50th Anniversary. With Lumi, VIA wishes to join the ranks of global operators who also operate one-of-a-kind liveries to help build excitement for passengers.
VIA has operated some special liveries over the years, but mostly with locomotives for advertising promotions. A new livery was released for Canada’s 150th in 2017, but the set did not operate in dedicated service and only ran together on a few occasions. In 2018, VIA updated the design celebrating its 40th anniversary and gave the company a refreshed new look. With additional changes after the anniversary passed, the look was rolled out to additional trains. In contrast to this, Lumi plans to be a unique experience, which VIA also plans to enhance with “perhaps a few surprises for our passengers” who board this trainset.
Lumi resulted from evaluating of several design alternatives. The United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) Turbo Train, which ran from 1968-1977 under CN and then until 1982 under VIA Rail, was the main inspiration for Lumi’s design. While not incorporating a historically accurate revival of the Turbo Train’s paint scheme with yellows and blues, according to VIA, Lumi is “a nod to the past and a look to the future” incorporating the “monochrome yellow” of VIA’s current branding, “keeping the signature linear lines of the new trains.”
Lumi has begun testing and qualification runs on VIA’s Montreal-Ottawa corridor and is expected to enter revenue service by the end of August.
